Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ When I Look to the Sky ❯ Chapter 5

Standard Disclaimers Apply
Rurouni Kenshin (c) Nobuhiro Watsuki; "When I Look to the Sky" (c) Train

When I Look to the Sky...
(A Songfic)

When it rains it pours and opens doors
And floods the floors we thought would always keep us safe and dry…

 

And in the midst of sailing ships we sink our lips into the ones we love
That have to say goodbye…

 

And as I float along this ocean
I can feel you like a notion that won't seem to let me go…

 

When I look to the sky something tells me you're here with me
And you make everything alright…

 

And when I feel like I'm lost something tells me you're here with me
And I can always find my way when you are here…

 

And every word I didn't say, caught up in some busy day
And every dance on the kitchen floor we didn't have before…

 

And every sunset that we'll miss I'll wrap them all up in a kiss
And pick you up in all of this when I sail away…

 

Whether I am up or down or in or out or just plain overhead
Instead it feels like it's impossible to fly…

 

But with you I can spread my wings

To see me over everything that life may send me
When I'm hoping it won't pass me by…

 

And when I feel like there is no one that will ever know me
there you are to show me…

_________________________________________________________________ _______

 

'Cause when I look to the sky something tells me you're here with me
And you make everything alright…

 

The landscape was so familiar that even the dusty path knew the weight of his feet, the direction of his destination. And yet Kenshin felt as if he were walking down this road for the very first time.

 

He ignored the whispers of the other travelers as they pointed, wide-eyed toward the sword strapped to his side because there was nothing he could do to ease their fear of it and him and what they represented together. But at the earliest opportunity he slipped off the main road, choosing a less traveled path that wound through a patch of woods toward the town.

 

The verdant canopy overhead provided a welcome relief from the glare of the noon sun and Kenshin was happy to listen to the rustling of his path through the tall grass mingle with the melody of bird calls.

 

When the dense underbrush gave way to tilled fields, Kenshin paused a moment and from his vantage could see the city running out before him in a growing patchwork of old and new buildings.

 

His sandaled foot rose to take a step, and stopped.

 

As if the breath had been knocked from his body, Kenshin wavered and fell backward against a nearby tree, his eyelids fluttering shut over the agony in his violet eyes. It had been a moment's hesitation, but what was holding him back?

 

The aged wrinkles of bark, rough against the back of his neck and involuntarily, his hands clenched into trembling fists. He barely noticed until the nails bit into the skin of his palm and startled, he gazed down at his callused hands, watching the blood return to colour his flesh.

 

Vividly, the memory of one rain filled day assailed him, and the softness of Kaoru's hand in his when she'd turned to him with a look of such tenderness on her face, it had made his heart ache. Back then he'd told himself that he'd only let her hold on to him to steady herself.

 

He could admit, now, that he had been clinging to her hand as well, like a sailor clings to a rock during a storm, knowing it to be his last, desperate lifeline.

 

Dropping his arms to his sides, Kenshin turned his face up to the vast, cloudless sky. Sparkling clear and a depthless azure that no other colour could match, save one…

 

Ah, to look into those eyes again… to have her look his way and truly see him… He would risk everything.

 

`Kenshin.' The memory of her voice whispered in his ear, calling out; welcoming him with a softness and warmth he wanted to wrap around himself like a cocoon. `I'll wait for you,' she'd said, and how could he bear keep her waiting?

 

Smiling, Kenshin stepped into the sunlight and strode toward the town with the intent steps of a man on a mission. And though the market was still busy he managed to maneuver his way through the crowd with a conspicuousness one might not have suspected of such a distinct character.

 

He passed the `Akabeko' and would have walked right past Dr. Genzai's house if a familiar voice had not called out.

 

“Welcome back, Ken-san” Megumi said, a bright smile tilting her lips, “Weren't you going to say hello?”

 

Kenshin turned and smiled affably, running his hands through his red hair in embarrassment.

 

“Sorry, Megumi-san, I was just---“

 

She laughed, and the sound was no longer tinged with sorrow or regret, “I know what you were `just'” she teased and Kenshin found himself at a loss for words.

 

“Go on,” the young doctor said kindly, “I know she must be waiting for you.”

 

Nodding his gratitude, Kenshin continued on, his gait steadily increasingly till he was practically running and it seemed like an eternity later that he pushed past the familiar wooden gate.

 

His smile froze and fell, and Kenshin had to concentrate to slow the erratic hammering of his heart as his harsh exhalations filled the unusual silence.

 

The place was empty. There was no Yahiko practicing in the yard, no Sano lolling on the deck and certainly no Kaoru watching for his return. He knew he shouldn't have felt so let down and his eyelids sank, hiding the burning disappointment in their violet depths though there was no one there to see it.

 

Of course, life wouldn't have stopped for them just because he'd been away, and he wouldn't have wanted it to, either! But his own certainties about his worth stirred vehemently, and without knowing where his feet would take him he found himself in the main dojo.

 

His hurt-darkened eyes landed on the calendar tacked to the wall and stilled. With trembling fingers, Kenshin traced the familiar numbers… the date when he had left.

 

“Kaoru…” the whispered escaped his lips and he could just imagine her sitting on the wooden floor and gazing at the small slip of paper that symbolized his leaving and her fears. In the most important ways, he knew, time had stopped for Kaoru. He should never have questioned that.

 

The redheaded rurouni headed for his room, knowing even before he slid open the door that things would be exactly as he had left them. Somehow he knew that Kaoru had not had the heart to clean it in his absence.

 

Well, at least it gave him something to do while he waited for their inevitable return, he grinned and began to collect the laundry. This time the certainty did not falter. Wherever they were, they would have to come home eventually, just as he had.

 

Kenshin knew that even if he were blind his heart would have led him back here.

 

Tying up his sleeves he allowed happiness to fill him as he settled into the familiar tasks of his home and his family.

___________________________________________________________ _____________

And when I feel like I'm lost something tells me you're here with me
And I can always find my way when you are here…

 

“Sorry, miss. That was the last arrival. The next ferry isn't due until tomorrow.”

 

Kaoru looked up blindly at the kindly old man who had been addressing her, but barely heard his words.

 

He hadn't come.

 

She had been so sure of what her heart was telling her that she hadn't listened to reason, to her friends, to the reality of the situation. She knew that behind her, Sanosuke and Yahiko were speaking in low, troubled whispers. Probably worrying about what affect this would have on her mind.

 

`It's not my mind you have to worry about,' she wanted to scream at them… it was her heart. But no words would come. Kaoru nodded at the faceless man too mute and heartsick to do anything else.

 

“Kaoru, I'm sure he's still coming. Don't worry,” Yahiko said awkwardly, and this time Kaoru didn't know if she had it in her to smile and comfort him. Her body bowed taut with the effort of holding herself together, she turned with as much dignity as she could muster to start back the way she had come earlier with so much hope.

 

“She'll be all right, kid. Don't worry,” she heard Sano murmur to her young student but even the irony of his words weren't enough to rouse her from the veil of apathy that had descended on her.

 

The road was practically empty at this time of day, most people having gone home to be with their families so all Kaoru had to concentrate on was putting one foot ahead of the other.

 

“Um… Kaoru. Why don't you go on to the dojo, we'll see you in a bit,” Sano's voice broke in suddenly and Kaoru looked up and noticed that they were in front of Dr. Genzai's office.

 

Despite her pitiable state, she did know what they were up to and for a moment her hollow, dulled eyes lit with fury. But the sparks died just as quickly as they rose and Kaoru just shrugged and watched the two men disappear inside the house.

 

When he came to her door, she hesitated and leaned against it without opening it. How could she face another empty night? And the same question again, how could she have been so wrong?

 

She had been so sure just that morning that he had returned, that feeling tying their hearts together stronger than any bond, more certain than any physical proof. Breathing deeply, Kaoru pushed herself away from the support of the door and straightened her back; she would not let the others see her as an object of pity.

 

When she walked into her courtyard, the first thing she noticed were the lines of clean laundry, shining damply in the fading twilight. A furrow marred her brow, she couldn't remember any of them doing the laundry earlier, but then maybe it had been Megumi cleaning up while the rest of them were away.

 

Or maybe… her heart hammered suddenly against her ribs, her blood pounding loudly in her ears. Pale fingers clenched spasmodically, crumpling the silky fabric of her kimono but she didn't notice as she raced toward the house with wings on her feet.

 

All but throwing the shoji screen open, her shoes clattering against the wooden floor as she walked down the empty hallway. Everything looked the same but there was something… something that her mind refused to believe but her heart acknowledged.

 

“Kaoru…”

 

A soft voice said from behind her and Kaoru froze. She had heard him saying her name just like that so often in her dreams. She wouldn't be able to bear it if this was just another of her delusions.

 

And then his warm, solid arms were enfolding her, pulling her lithe body against his where she fit perfectly as if that were where she belonged. The tears gave way then, flooding down her tears as a silent testimony to her awkward fears.

 

“Kenshin…”

 

She sobbed his name like a prayer, as if it were last saving grace of a dying man, and turned within his comforting arms, blindly reaching out to cup his cherished face in her palms while he did the same to her and Kaoru knew the wetness on her face was from both their tears.

 

Kenshin tasted the sound of his name on Kaoru's lips and reveled in the sweetness of it filling his mouth, seeping into his very soul. Their warm breaths mingled, their lips touching again and again in a litany of soft, yearning kisses, and they touched each other as if they had never felt anything so good as the touch of each other's skin and they never wanted to stop.

 

And more than that touch, more than taste was that feeling of homecoming as the restlessness in his heart quieted to beat in time with hers.

 

 

**The End**